2019 Nissan Rogue review

Shoppers love crossovers, and the competition for the top spot in the best-selling segment of the market is fierce. In most years, the Nissan Rogue comes out ahead, but by the end of 2018, the Toyota RAV4 maintained the lead with 427,168 sales, followed by the Rogue with 412,110. In the first two months of 2019, Rogue again took the lead with 58,012 sales, far exceeding the 50,654 RAV4 sold. The Honda CR-V landed in the middle with 55,456 sales.

This information may seem irrelevant to a review, but there is a message there: In this mission-critical market segment, Nissan is winning against the giants of the industry. The reasons for its success are simple: it is a good product and a good value for your money. The Rogue is a reasonably spacious five-passenger crossover SUV. It’s perfect for active singles, couples who love road trips or growing families. Even if you choose the basic version and front-wheel drive at $ 25,965 (including all fees), important features are included, such as active security plus smartphone integration. The Rogue can also tow up to 1,100 pounds, so a camper or boat trailer can be part of your life.

Nissan delivers the Rogue in three main versions: S, SV and SL. Think of them as a base, family and luxury levels. The SV edge adds advanced safety technology such as automatic reverse braking, plus family-friendly features such as a rear door with motion control, a remote starter with intelligent climate control and heated front seats. The top edge SL is where you get it all, including Nissan’s ProPilot Assist steering system and adaptive cruise control, a surround-view camera, a high-tech dashboard display, voice recognition, board navigation and leather upholstery, just to name a few.

All Rogue models are available with front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive, and the SV and SL models are offered with either a gasoline engine or an electric gasoline hybrid powertrain. If you check all the boxes, the Nissan Rogue SL Hybrid 2019 with four-wheel drive will cost you $ 33,935, plus an additional $ 2,000 if you want the Bose stereo and the panoramic moonroof.

INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR DESIGN

The Rogue 2019 looks like a crossover SUV. There is no attempt to make it look like a sports car or something like that, but what it is: a practical vehicle with off-the-road capabilities. As the SUVs advance, the Rogue looks better than most, and Nissan has avoided the temptation to give more coupe lines that do not make it more beautiful, but they take away the much needed carrying capacity.

Inside, the rogue is all business. Everything is where you expect to find it. The infotainment screen is located near the top of the dashboard, but does not float over it, so it is sometimes out of the driver’s line of sight. All trims have a 7.0-inch touch screen system (which is smaller than the maximum specification unit of RAV4) that shows Nissan’s patented NissanConnect system. It is not that many buyers use it, since both are compatible with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. The buttons of the real climate control are located just below the screen, which is good. You do not have to fight your way through a lot of menus to adjust the temperature. It’s not fancy, even on the top edge, but it’s pleasantly functional.

When you sit in the Rogue, you notice that the interior is well done. The fit and finish are well executed, as you would expect from Nissan. If you buy the SV or SL trimmings, you will get leather in the center console, dashboard and steering wheel. The piano black finish around the central stack is a nice touch, which gives the cabin a discreet quality sensation that is not usually found at this price.

As an SUV, the Rogue has to do with the load capacity. The Rogue provides 39.3 cubic feet behind the second row of seats, and up to 70 cubic feet when you open everything. The first figure is near the top of the class, but the CR-V offers 75.8 cubes with the rear seats folded flat. Hybrid shoppers will have to forego the cargo space for battery space, with 27.3 buckets behind the rear seats and 61.4 cubic feet with the rear seats folded.

TECH FEATURES

Nissan is leading the economic transition class with regards to the available driver assistance technology. The company calls smart mobility and the system includes all the usual features of the upper drawer, such as adaptive cruise control, automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection and automatic rear braking with sonar. Information technology features for the driver are also included, including a 360 degree camera system, cross traffic monitoring in blind and rear blind spots, and assistance in getting out of the lane.

The jewel in Nissan’s driver assistance technology package is ProPilot Assist, which extends lane maintenance capabilities to the autonomous light management. ProPilot will keep the rogue centered in its lane on long straights and around smooth curves. Other automakers also offer this level of assistance, but are generally limited to luxury brands such as the sister brand of Nissan, Infiniti, Mercedes-Benz, Cadillac and, of course, Tesla. Toyota is just entering Lane Tracing with the 2019 RAV4, while the Honda still offers the CR-V with lane maintenance assistance.

This is where we have to put the mandatory note that today there are no self-controlled cars available for public purchase. ProPilot is not an automatic driving technology, it just prevents your car from deviating from its lane if you are not paying attention on easy roads. There are limits as to the direction it will take, and those limits are stricter than you think. The driver must keep both hands on the steering wheel and both eyes on the road at all times.

DRIVING IMPRESSIONS

The Rogue is powered by Nissan’s four-cylinder, 2.5-liter engine in all trim levels. This engine provides 170 horsepower and 175 pound-feet of torque, figures that make it less powerful than the four-cylinder RAV4. The engine is bolted to Nissan’s Xtronic continuously variable transmission (CVT), which makes good use of the available power to give the Rogue a solid driving experience. CVTs are a fact of today’s life in economic vehicles, and Nissan has the advantage of several years of development because they changed earlier. The acceleration similar to a rubber band that we found in many cars equipped with a CVT is nowhere to be found in the Rogue.

ProPilot, and indeed all similar technology, can be disconcerting. Especially if you have been driving for some years, the feeling of the car automatically adjusting the direction is disconcerting. However, once you get used to the idea, ProPilot makes the long stretches of the highway a bit easier to manage. It keeps the rogue centered in its lane, and its direction inputs are smooth, though it can be tricked by inconsistent lane markings, or when a lane widens in preparation for an exit ramp. The layout of the Toyota lane on the RAV4 and the new Corolla are the same way.

The Rogue has a good suspension and feels well planted on the road, with a smooth and comfortable ride. Four-wheel disc brakes also give you a short distance to stop. It’s not a hot rod like the Infiniti crossovers, but the Rogue is a nice SUV to drive around town and on the road. Fuel economy is on par with the competition of 26 mpg in the city and 33 mpg on the highway.

You can also get your Rogue with a hybrid transmission train if you want to use a little less gas. The hybrid gets up to 33 miles per gallon in the city, and 35 mpg on the highway with front-wheel drive, or a little less with AWD. You’ll get 176 total system horsepower and 144 pound-feet of gasoline engine torque. If that sounds disappointing, remember that hybrid torque and horsepower are measured on the wheels, so it actually has a little more success than the gasoline engine. One more thing: in the SL version, the hybrid costs only $ 150 more than the gasoline engine, so it’s almost free. There is a price delta of $ 1,260 in the SV cut.

[button color=”” size=”” type=”square” target=”” link=””]It’s not a hot rod like the Infiniti crossovers, but the Rogue is a nice SUV to drive around town and on the road.[/button]

RIVALS

The two real rivals for the Rogue are the Toyota RAV4 2019 and the Honda CR-V 2019. The Honda sells for $ 25,395 at the low end of FWD and up to $ 35,195 at the high end of AWD, while the Toyota sells for $ 26,595 at the base edge and up to $ 38,815 with AWD at the top edge with options. The RAV4 hybrid is a bit more affordable, with a maximum of $ 36,900 with options. For reference, the Rogue 2019 ranges from $ 25,965 to $ 35,935.

In addition to Nissan’s leadership in driver assistance, these are all comparable SUVs in terms of features and performance. Each one has something that the others do not have. Honda offers the LaneWatch system, which gives you a view of the camera from the blind spot on the right when you activate the turn signal to the right. Toyota offers road signage assistance to stay up-to-date on current speed limits.

PEACE OF MIND

The Nissan Rogue 2019 comes with a basic warranty of three years and 36,000 miles, which extends to five years or 60,000 miles on the powertrain.

The basic safety equipment available on all models includes all the usual features of the government, as well as blind spot warning, intelligent lane intervention, automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection, automatic rear braking and rear cross traffic alerts.

HOW DT WOULD CONFIGURE THIS CAR

With the comparatively short and economical cut walk in the Rogue, there are very few reasons not to go big and get the advanced features. In addition, with only a small price difference between the SLD AWD and the SLD hybrid SL, it does not make sense to sacrifice fuel savings for a lower purchase price. We recommend going all-in and getting the best that Nissan has to offer at $ 33,395. If you’re an audiophile, you can spend the additional $ 2,000 on the Bose stereo and the panoramic moonroof on the Hybrid Premium package, but we would not.

OUR TAKE

There are a lot of good reasons why the Rogue is one of the three best-selling crosses in the United States. Buyers get a good SUV with a decent performance and a great technological history at an equal or better price than a comparable comparable vehicle. The Rogue meets the needs of a compact crossover buyer, offers four-wheel drive and a hybrid option, and looks great for the money.

Should you get one?

Yes. The Nissan Rogue 2019 is popular because it offers great value in a compact crossover. You can buy the features you need and you do not have to pay for the ones you do not need.